The present invention relates to temperature-controlled chambers, and in particular to a portable storage module, preferably of markedly small size, for temperature-sensitive materials, such as insulin, and other water-based medications.
Many medications which are prescribed to be taken on a daily basis must be kept in a controlled-temperature environment. Such medications include insulin, antibiotics reconstructed in sterile water, allergy and other serums, vaccines, suppositories, snake anti-venom, and many others. If the temperature of such substances is not carefully controlled, they lose their stability and potency, and may in fact present health hazards.
Heretofore, refrigerated containers have been available for preserving insulin and other similar medications during travel. However, most such devices have in the past merely been passive insulated carriers, while other more recent active devices are capable of only cooling the medication. Because these medications deteriorate not only when exposed to high temperatures, but also to overly low temperatures, particualarly below freezing, the portable refrigerator-type devices are not effective for all types of year-round travel. For instance, if a temperature-sensitive medication like insulin were exposed to freezing temperatures for any extended period of time, such as those experienced in the baggage compartments of airplanes on transcontinental flights, or in automobiles, campers, or other recreational vehicles during the winter months in the northern regions of the country, the insulin would be ruined. It is quite expensive to purchase a new supply of medication, and even more importantly, it can be difficult or even impossible to replace the medication in a foreign or remote location. Travelers can expect to encounter substantial difficulty and delay, not to mention expense, in obtaining replacement medication. As a result, patients who are required to take medications often or regularly experience serious anxiety when traveling, particularly among the elderly and infirm, often to the extent which renders long trips totally impracticable.
Another problem experienced with refrigerator traveling kits is that they are either overly large and cumbersome, or else the size of the medication receptable is fixed such that it can receive only a certain size of vial. As a result, the user is not always able to carry an appropriate amount of medication with him, thereby causing either wastage, or requiring the user to replenish his supply sometime during his absence from home.